The Princess and The Game's Rebel (Book 2)

Ulterior Motives

|Aurora's POV|

Mom just dropped us off at school. Zack and I are fine, I guess. We didn't speak this morning and when we got to school he went his way and I went mine. My friends waved me over and I had to go and break the news to them that I couldn't hang with them like I usually do. For the past couple of months, every day has been with them, the 6 of us: Meg, Cam, Lucas, Jonas, Sky, and of course, me.

"Hey guys."

They all said hey and then started asking and commenting on the situation yesterday one after the other.

"Who was that guy yesterday at the restaurant?"

"Yeah, he damn near dragged you out of there."

"What happened?"

"We tried texting and never got a response."

"You ok?"

I just stood there letting them finish what they had to say. I finally held up my hand to get them to stop. I looked down at my watch to see I had 5 minutes to get to my homeroom. I had to make this quick.

"That was my uncle. I told you guys, well briefly, that my family is very overprotective and old school. Skipping class was one thing, but leaving campus has spiraled into this whole big thing and now my dad is meeting with my teachers and the principal. My grades slipped. I can't blame you guys for what I did, but I can't hang out like we used to. I can't keep sneaking around and skipping class."

They didn't say anything. Maybe they were processing what I said. Meg was the first to speak.

"Well, I mean, we still want to be friends. You're cool Rory and we don't want to get you in trouble."

"Yeah, I'm not blaming this on you guys..."

"We get it," Lucas said.

"Yeah, you have to get back on track. I mean if anything, you can find us in your free time or something," Cam added.

"Plus we all have lunch together. We can hang then. No need for you to get in any more trouble. Sometimes it's not worth it," Sky said.

I was about to respond and the bell rang. I needed to get to class before the late bell.

"Um, thanks for understanding. I didn't expect the convo to go this well."

Time will tell if they actually meant what they said about us remaining friends, even though I wouldn't be ditching classes with them anymore.

"We got you," Jonas replied.

"I gotta go. Can't be late the day my dad is having this meeting. Plus Ms. Cramer can be a bitch. See you guys at lunch."

They waved and I bolted to my homeroom. My teacher was just about to close the door when I slid inside.

"Aurora, nice of you to join us, on time."

It took everything in me not to roll my eyes at her comment.

"Good morning to you too, Ms. Cramer."

She motioned for me to take a seat

I won't lie and say that I'm not nervous about how today is going to go. I mean, my dad is meeting with my teachers and principal after all. They know I've skipped class. They know I'm missing assignments. I'll get punished for that. My punishment will probably be even worse when my dad finds out that I've been disrespectful. Not to all my teachers, but it won't matter to him. Being disrespectful to any adult is a big no.

I made it to all my classes, on time, plus turned in my homework from the day before plus a few missing assignments. I saw Zack during lunch. He didn't say anything, but he winked at me. I smiled back and got confused when I saw him frowning at me. Well, not me exactly, someone that happened to be standing behind me, Nick.